The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
themoodreader's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Blood, Confinement, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Addiction, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, and Drug use
lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I received this book as a gift years ago, and I have finally made the time to finish this duology.
"Crooked Kingdom" picks up right at the end of "Six of Crows". Kaz and his crew have just wrapped up the most dangerous heist of his career. They should be celebrating, but unfortunately, they have been betrayed, and now they must gather what little resources they have to continue on a new adventure.
This book was very high stakes, and I was on the edge of my seat trying to anticipate what would happen next. I loved how much of an adventure this felt like, without being too cheesy and cliche.
This duology is first and foremost about friendship, which I think is such an important theme to be prevalent in the Young Adult genre. People need to have solid relationships in their life or else they will not get very far, which is really highlighted in this duology. I love that these misfits have all bonded together, and they are so willing to do anything for one another. It is beautiful, heartwarming, and encouraging that we all can find our people.
My one criticism with this story was that some of the scenes felt a little long to me. I ended up falling out of the story quite a few times. I think this would have worked a little better for me if it were 100 pages shorter, but I still enjoyed this book, nonetheless.
I will definitely be continuing to read from Leigh Bardugo more in the future, and I highly recommend this duology to anyone looking for a YA fantasy with some loveable misfits.Â
"Crooked Kingdom" picks up right at the end of "Six of Crows". Kaz and his crew have just wrapped up the most dangerous heist of his career. They should be celebrating, but unfortunately, they have been betrayed, and now they must gather what little resources they have to continue on a new adventure.
This book was very high stakes, and I was on the edge of my seat trying to anticipate what would happen next. I loved how much of an adventure this felt like, without being too cheesy and cliche.
This duology is first and foremost about friendship, which I think is such an important theme to be prevalent in the Young Adult genre. People need to have solid relationships in their life or else they will not get very far, which is really highlighted in this duology. I love that these misfits have all bonded together, and they are so willing to do anything for one another. It is beautiful, heartwarming, and encouraging that we all can find our people.
My one criticism with this story was that some of the scenes felt a little long to me. I ended up falling out of the story quite a few times. I think this would have worked a little better for me if it were 100 pages shorter, but I still enjoyed this book, nonetheless.
I will definitely be continuing to read from Leigh Bardugo more in the future, and I highly recommend this duology to anyone looking for a YA fantasy with some loveable misfits.Â
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Torture, Blood, and Toxic friendship
axel_p's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I have no idea why it took me so long to read this book.
Content Warnings
Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic, Classism, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Grief, Pregnancy, Ableism, Blood, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, Sexual violence, Stalking, Trafficking, Violence, Addiction, Body horror, Slavery, Xenophobia, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Kidnapping, Medical content, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, War, and Torture
piperrhoads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Torture, Sexual assault, and Trafficking
toastyghosty13's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I wanted to like this book since I somewhat enjoyed the book that came before it (Six of Crows), although I disliked the main Grisha series. I am utterly convinced that Leigh Bardugo has this horrid ability to create the most original and interesting characters, and then knows fuck all what to do with them. I have realized this after reading 5 of the Grisha books, since I felt obligated to finish after buying the boxset for $20 at Costco. The only character I found to be dull and lifeless was Mal from the mainline series . The rest of the characters have such interesting backgrounds that made me want to read more about them and see them use their abilities & experiences in subsequent events, yet I fond a lot of what they actually did to be lackluster and had me wishing for a lot more.
I especially lost it during this book when Matthias was killed off for no reason other than shock value. Kaz dying would have been a much better death rather than Matthias, who has a 14 year old trembling boy sneak up on him and kill him despite being a highly trained soldier with years more experience. This was disappointing and ruined my day, because this is character I wanted to see more of, especially with the dynamic of his relationship with Nina since they started off as mortal enemies. Â
I also found the follow up plot from Six of Crows to be pretty boring in comparison. The Ocean's 11 type plot from Six of Crows was enjoyable enough and I did not dislike it. I originally gave it a 3.5/5 and have since changed it to 3, since I clearly desperately wanted to like it after loving each of the unique and interesting characters we were introduced to. I wholeheartedly feel the same about the mainline Grisha series following Alina Starkov, where the Darkling is such an interesting and nuanced character yet, at the end, Leigh really does boil him down to "lonely different emo kid lashing out at everyone even though he's like 30 now because he wants a friend". There were so many opportunities to make the Darkling a fluid character that was between good and evil, and it really felt like it would take that direction in the entire first Grisha book, but then the rest of it was just status quo "shadow guy evil" and really boring to me. His character was constantly going back and forth between doing something bad, but it was for the greater good, which could have made for interesting plot where you want the bad guy to be good, but that was completely skipped over.
This has taken a tangent away from reviewing only Crooked Kingdom to ranting about my frustrations with Leigh Bardugo's imbalance in writing quality and character development. The main Grisha line is bleh but quick enough that you can read it all in under a week. The Crow's duology is much longer despite only being 2 books so I recommend reading the main Grisha line to see if you like it first. This way, you won't be stuck in an internal battle having to convince yourself to finish a book after starting it 2 months ago because you are already 55% of the way through. I started reading the Grishaverse books because I watched the first 6 episodes of the tv show on Netflix, and this is an exception to the rule of books being better than the cinematic adaptation. Ben Barnes is a great actor, and he's hot, so you're better off there. You also get the main Grisha line with the Crows duology all in one show, and the other actors for the Crows characters are superb and really bring the characters to life in new plotlines that are not even part of the books.Â
TLDR; skip all the Grisha books, just watch the show.Â
I especially lost it during this book when
I also found the follow up plot from Six of Crows to be pretty boring in comparison. The Ocean's 11 type plot from Six of Crows was enjoyable enough and I did not dislike it. I originally gave it a 3.5/5 and have since changed it to 3, since I clearly desperately wanted to like it after loving each of the unique and interesting characters we were introduced to. I wholeheartedly feel the same about the mainline Grisha series following Alina Starkov, where
This has taken a tangent away from reviewing only Crooked Kingdom to ranting about my frustrations with Leigh Bardugo's imbalance in writing quality and character development. The main Grisha line is bleh but quick enough that you can read it all in under a week. The Crow's duology is much longer despite only being 2 books so I recommend reading the main Grisha line to see if you like it first. This way, you won't be stuck in an internal battle having to convince yourself to finish a book after starting it 2 months ago because you are already 55% of the way through. I started reading the Grishaverse books because I watched the first 6 episodes of the tv show on Netflix, and this is an exception to the rule of books being better than the cinematic adaptation. Ben Barnes is a great actor, and he's hot, so you're better off there. You also get the main Grisha line with the Crows duology all in one show, and the other actors for the Crows characters are superb and really bring the characters to life in new plotlines that are not even part of the books.Â
TLDR; skip all the Grisha books, just watch the show.Â
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Violence, and Torture
Moderate: Gun violence, Death, and Blood
Minor: Pregnancy
sascha3d's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
leigh bardugo has a way of wrapping the most wretched gifts in soft little moments
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Blood
Moderate: Murder and Death
Minor: Child death
gracelang_09's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Physical abuse
Minor: Gun violence, Trafficking, Child death, Alcohol, Cursing, Addiction, and Death of parent
sginnaw's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, Vomit, and War
Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Pandemic/Epidemic, Slavery, Torture, and Trafficking
Minor: Child death, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, and Rape
kisa_044's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
WOW.
Bin traurig, dass diese phantastische Geschichte jetzt ein Ende hat, aber probiere dankbar zu sein, dass sie überhaupt existiert. Diese Miniserie hat sich einen Platz im Herzen gefunden.Â
Bin traurig, dass diese phantastische Geschichte jetzt ein Ende hat, aber probiere dankbar zu sein, dass sie überhaupt existiert. Diese Miniserie hat sich einen Platz im Herzen gefunden.Â
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Drug use, Grief, and Murder
laurenkgrace's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Trafficking, Slavery, War, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Murder, and Death